


of what i wish I'd said

by clokcwork_dragon



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:28:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29683977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clokcwork_dragon/pseuds/clokcwork_dragon
Summary: Daisy can't lose her mother again, so she begs her not to leave.[Canon-divergent, takes place after the end of s2]
Relationships: Melinda May & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 61





	of what i wish I'd said

**Author's Note:**

> Started rewatching AoS a couple of weeks ago and I've been wanting to write May & Daisy family feels for a while. Unfortunately I had to write this on my phone, and it isn't beta-read. Hoping it's not full of mistakes lol.
> 
> Just what I wish had happened at the end of s2 instead of May leaving. Enjoy!

Daisy sits in her bunk, her hands toying with the little figurine swiped from Cal's office. Her _father's_ office. She still can't quite wrap her head around everything that's happened; the inhumans, her dad being shipped off to the TAHITI facility, Jiaying -her _mom_ \- tried to kill her and now is dead herself, Bobbi having a brush with death and Ward once again being out in the open...

So many goodbyes. She's had to say goodbye to Cal, the father who had loved her so fiercely he'd been ready to take the whole world to Hell with him for her sake. She's had to reconcile with the fact that her real mother viewed her only as the trigger to a weapon, to revenge-

Daisy's train of thoughts hits pause and her mind runs the words over again. She closes her eyes, sees Jiaying's face-

- _no_. 

Jiaying is her biological mother, that much is the irreversible truth. But she's not her real mother. Only one person has ever taken up that role for her. 

Skye places the figurine on top of her nightstand, next to a framed photo of her and her team, and stands up.

There is one more thing she needs to do before this chapter of her life closes.

* * *

"May?" 

May's fingers clench around the handle of her gun involuntarily. She's already removed the magazine, but there's only so much she can do to contain her body's instinctive response to being startled.

She looks up from her backpack to see Skye -no, _Daisy_ \- standing outside of the door to the lockers' room. She looks awkward, one thumb brushing over the other hand's knuckles- the telltale sign of her nervousness. 

May sighs.

"What's wrong?" 

"I- Hi- um..." Daisy clears her throat. "Coulson... told us you were um, leaving?"

Oh. _Oh_. Of course. Coulson couldn't keep his mouth shut, could he? Well, she's hoped to do this without sentimentalities, but it seems the cat was out of the bag now. Better get on with it.

"Andrew and I decided to try again." Strange; she'd felt confident in her decision earlier. Why did it feel like a facade now? 

"...Uhuh." Daisy nods, blinking and looking away. "And uh, when are you coming back?"

"S- Daisy, I'm not certain I will."

Coulson had probably failed to mention that. Daisy's eyes widen and snap back to her, and for a moment she looks like the lost girl she was when S.H.I.E.L.D. first found her. When she was still Skye.

"You- what? May, no! I mean- I understand, you want a break but-" 

"But what?" May bites the inside of her cheek to prevent the rest of the question from slipping out: _you made it clear how you feel about me, when you mentioned the girl in Bahrain._ It's not like her to be petty, but she hates to admit that that had hit exactly where it hurts.

"I- you can't go! Not forever!" Daisy's expression is a mix of anger and sadness and despair. "May, we need you!"

May raises an eyebrow. They don't, and it's a flimsy excuse to put up when they've regained that much manpower and even some enhanced new recruits. Even the Cavalry wouldn't make that big of a difference in the grand scheme of things. 

Daisy takes a deep breath, and the next words are something May hasn't expected.

" _I_ need you."

It's May's turn to blink in slight surprise- quite a rare emotion for her, mind you.

"No, you don't. You have finished your training, I have approved of your performance as your former S.O. and-"

"No, that's not what I mean!" Daisy shouts, her hands coming up to cover her ears. A slight tremor reverberates through the floor; it's gone the next second, and Daisy's back in control. She flings her arms back down and crosses the rest of the space between her and May- one hand darting forward and grabbing the other woman's wrist.

" _I'm sorry_." Daisy chokes. "I'm sorry for everything, for what I said, I- I knew it was wrong, and it would hurt you, and I still said it just because I was stupid enough to believe the lies of a woman whom I'd just met."

That's something May hadn't expected. Which frustrates her, because that means she hasn't planned of how to deal with it. And she isn't good with emotions.

"She was your mother." She replies slowly. "It is only logical you'd trust her."

"No." Daisy looks down on the floor but her fingers remain wrapped around May's hand.

"She was the woman who gave birth to me. But she wasn't my mother." 

The girl swallows, and finally looks up. 

"You are." 

Melinda May likes to pride herself on the fact that she's prepared for any situation. Nothing fazes her, nothing daunts her. 

But this, what Daisy just said, does.

_'I need a new mother.'_

She doesn't say anything, and has the feeling that she must look ridiculous with that look on her face, but her silence only gives Daisy time to say more.

"Jiaying wasn't the one to punch Ian Quinn in the face after he shot me. She wasn't the one to train me, to show me how to fight and how to live. She wasn't the one who placed her trust in me, who protected me after I changed, not for herself but because she truly loved me. That was all you, and I said those terrible things, and attacked you." 

Daisy sniffs, and May feels something warm and wet landing on the hand that the girl is still holding.

She opens her mouth, but finds herself devoid of words. Daisy looks hopeful for a second, before she interprets her silence as rejection; her hand drops from around May's, and she takes a step back.

"I... I know it's very selfish of me to ask you to stay. But so many things have changed, I don't want this to change, too. You, and Coulson and all the others- you're my family. I don't want to lose any of you ever again." 

_The girl's hand reaching out towards her._

_'I'm scared. I need a new mother.'_

That girl had been beyond saving, yet her face and her voice had haunted May for so long. Her nightmares, her waking moments, all filled with that youthful voice and the ringing of a gunshot.

She had thought breaking away from S.H.I.E.L.D. would offer closure to that. Going back to Andrew, to how things used to be. She had thought this was her being brave and putting the past behind her.

Now, with Daisy's crying eyes seeing right through her, she realises she's only ever been a coward. 

This is where she belongs. Whatever she and Andrew had is gone, and all the reminiscing and hoping in the world can't bring it back. For better or for worse, she has a new family, the family she never had the chance to make for herself before.

How blind she's been. It's ridiculous, laughable almost- and she doesn't even laugh that much. The things she thought she'd been robbed of after Bahrain- they are all there. Fitz, Simmons. Coulson. Daisy. She _has_ a family. She loves them. And she might have been unable to see it before but, they love her too.

She's not the Melinda she was before Bahrain, Coulson isn't the man he was before he died, Fitz isn't the man he was before almost drowning and Daisy wasn't the girl she was before she Changed. But they are all still them, inside, and they are all still hers, her family, and she's not beyond living her life as she wants to. She can't turn back the clock and have the life she and Andrew dreamed of before Bahrain, yes, but she's been given another chance. 

She'd be an ungrateful fool to not take it.

May covers the space between her and Daisy, and crosses her arms in front of her chest. She hopes her expression is as unreadable as always, and by Daisy's confused expression she supposes it is indeed.

She places her hand on Daisy's shoulder.

"Then I suppose I have to stay, don't I?"

Daisy changes about five different facial expressions before her jaw drops, and she flutters her eyes rapidly as if she cannot believe what she just heard.

"W-Wait, May- I don't want to force you to stay. If you want to be with-"

"My family." The word feels strange. Sweet. She smiles a little. "That's who I want to be with."

"B-But Andrew, he thinks you'll go back with him!" 

"Andrew has always been a little bit like Cal. Hoping to turn back the clock. But we can't do that, and I think this time he'll understand." 

Maybe he'll even be happy for her, for moving on. Proud. A woman can hope, can't she? 

But she has no more time to consider the possible outcomes, as Daisy tackles her with possibly the worst bear hug she's ever been forced to endure, knocking both of them back against the locker stalls. May trips on her discarded backpack and they both fall down in a heap of awkward affection- awkward, but not unwelcome in the least.

Daisy buries her face in May's shoulder for only a moment, holding on for a few more seconds before they will inevitably have to disengage and get up.

"Love you, mom." She whispers with a sniffle, and May smiles- a genuine smile, perhaps for the first time in a few years.

"I love you too, Daisy." 

**Author's Note:**

> twitter: @flaythleann  
> tumblr: @setethx


End file.
